Golf putting training apparatus

ABSTRACT

Golf putting training apparatus ( 1 ), for use with a putter ( 22 ), comprises a base ( 10 ) having a support ( 11 ) upstanding therefrom, and a guide ( 12 ) carried by said support ( 11 ). The guide ( 12 ) has an elongate guide surface ( 18 ) for the shaft ( 21 ) of the putter ( 22 ) to be slid along during putting. An indicator ( 17 ) extends laterally from the base ( 10 ), below the guide surface ( 18 ), to provide a golfer ( 19 ) with a visual indication of the alignment of the face of the putter head ( 23 ) with respect to a golf ball ( 24 ) positioned adjacent the indicator ( 17 ). In use, the golfer ( 19 ) practises a putting stroke by swinging the putter ( 22 ) so that the shaft ( 21 ) slides along the guide surface ( 18 ), whilst using the indicator ( 17 ) to align the face of the putter head ( 23 ) at an appropriate angle for striking the golf ball ( 24 ).

This invention relates to apparatus for golf training. In particular, the invention relates to apparatus for use by a golfer in practising and improving his putting stroke.

Putting is considered arguably the most important skill when playing golf. When learning or practising the game of golf, a golfer must develop the ability to swing the golf club on the putting green in the correct manner, and then reliably to repeat a correct putting stroke, time after time. Whilst in principle this may seem a relatively straightforward matter, the reality is that many golfers, both amateur and professional, are let down by the poor quality of their putting.

On the green, most golfers use a specifically designed golf club, known as a putter, having a head with a straight face to facilitate the rolling of a golf ball along the green. It is important that the putting stroke is kept as straight as possible. Ideally, the head of the putter should follow a path in a vertical plane substantially aligned with the front of the golfer's body. In practice, most golfers tend to bring the head of the club out of this plane at the beginning and end of the stroke, but it is crucial that when the face of the putter head contacts the ball, the club should be in this plane. Moreover, in order to achieve the optimum striking angle of the face of the putter head with respect to a golf ball, it is necessary for that face to be perpendicular to this plane. To produce an accurate putt it is also necessary for the golfer to hit the ball at the start of the upstroke, rather than on the downstroke.

A trainee golfer learning to putt therefore has to master the art of controlling the golf club such that the ball is hit with the face of the putter head at right angles to a vertical plane substantially aligned with the front of the golfer's body, and with the ball being hit at the start of the upstroke. The next stage is then to learn how to repeat consistently the optimum putting stroke—or at least a putting stroke closely approximating the optimum within an acceptable margin of error. The golfer needs to be able to repeat such a putting stroke time after time when out on the golf course, and perhaps even under extreme pressure when playing in a tournament. Many hours of training and practice are required in order to achieve this reliable reproduction of an optimum putting stroke.

Over the years, various apparatus and devices have been proposed to assist the golfer in improving his putting stroke during training. Such devices include modified or weighted golf clubs, apparatus for correctly positioning the golfer's feet or legs, apparatus for restricting movement of the golfer's arms or upper body, and elaborate systems in which the golf club is attached by wires or other means to apparatus for guiding or otherwise controlling its motion.

The known training aids have been found not to be wholly acceptable. Many of the more elaborate systems are prohibitively expensive for an amateur golfer, whilst the results achieved by many proposed devices are questionable. Still further, while the use of apparatus or devices which physically restrict the golfer's putting path may lead to improvements during training, such results are not always readily transferable onto the golf course when playing a game of golf, where use of supplementary equipment is not permitted.

The present invention seeks to address the above issues by providing golf putting training apparatus which is inexpensive to manufacture and purchase, does not involve physical restriction of the golfer's putting stroke, and is capable of achieving improvements in the golfer's putting stroke which will be transferable to the golf course. Moreover, it is believed that the apparatus of the present invention will significantly reduce the number of hours of practice required in order to develop a consistently reproducible optimum putting stroke.

According to the present invention there is provided golf putting training apparatus for use with a putter, comprising:

-   -   a base having a support upstanding therefrom;     -   a guide carried by said support and having an elongate guide         surface for the shaft of a putter being used for putting; and     -   an indicator extending laterally from the base below the guide         surface to provide a golfer with a visual indication of the         alignment of the face of the putter head with respect to a golf         ball;     -   whereby in use a golfer may practise a putting stroke by         swinging the putter so that the shaft runs along the guide         surface, while using the indicator to align the face of the         putter head at an appropriate angle for striking a golf ball.

The guide may be used merely to give a visual indication of an optimum path for the putter shaft and head but preferably is used as a physical guide whereby in use, the golfer slides the shaft of a putter along the guide surface. In this way, the guide is not intended physically to restrict the motion of the putter, but merely to provide a surface over which the putter shaft can be slid to assist the golfer in maintaining an optimum path for the putter head. The guide may have an arcuate profile in the vertical plane, approximating the locus of a point on the shaft of a putter being swung.

The guide surface may be linear in the horizontal plane, in order to assist the golfer in maintaining a linear path for the putter. Alternatively, the guide surface itself may be arcuate in the horizontal plane, in order that the golfer may follow an arcuate putting path. In this latter embodiment, the putter is brought out of the vertical plane substantially aligned with the front of the golfer's body, at the beginning and end of the stroke. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention the guide surface is adjustable between a linear and arcuate profile, in the horizontal plane.

To enable the shaft of a putter to be slid along the guide surface, the guide needs to be positioned at a suitable height from the base. Moreover, so as to prevent any accidental contact of the putter with the support or the base, it is preferred that the guide surface is horizontally spaced therefrom. To this end, the support may comprise a lower section upstanding from the base and an upper section extending substantially horizontally, at 90° to the lower section.

The guide should be positioned relative to the support to ensure that a golfer has plenty of room to perform a full swing with the putter. Preferably, the guide extends transversely from the upper section of the support with the guide surface lying in a vertical plane. In this way, the golfer may stand directly behind the support with the guide positioned in alignment with the front of his body.

The indicator is intended to provide the golfer with a visual indication of the angle of the face of a putter head compared to the ideal for a putter being swung along the guide. Ideally, the indicator is arranged at right angles to the guide surface. Preferably, the indicator extends from the base in the same direction as the upper section of the support and is arranged in substantial vertical alignment therewith. In this way, the golfer will be able visually to perceive the optimum putting stoke.

In principle, the base of the apparatus according to the present invention may be no more than a plate on which the support and alignment indicator are mounted. It is preferred that the base should comprise a generally planar plate.

In a preferred form of this invention, the base plate has two opposed long edges and two opposed short edges. The short edges may be of semicircular arcuate form. The plate may optionally be further provided with appropriate markings with which the golfer's feet should be aligned, behind the base, to achieve an optimum putting position.

In practice, a golfer places his feet behind the base plate, one to each side of the support. In this position, the golfer's head should be directly above the indicator with the front of his body at right angles thereto so that he is able clearly to see the angle of the putter head relative to the indicator projecting from the base.

Preferably, the lower section of the support extends upwardly from the base plate, substantially midway between the opposed short edges. In this arrangement, it is preferred that the guide surface extends substantially parallel to the long edges of the base plate. This ensures that the support is centrally disposed along the length of the base, and thus gives equal spacing each side of the support.

The indicator preferably projects horizontally from a point substantially mid-way along one of the long edges of the base plate. In this way, the indicator is vertically aligned with the upper section of the support and the midpoint of the guide, thus facilitating the visual perception of the optimum putting stroke.

The apparatus may be formed mostly or entirely from metal, although of course any material with the necessary physical characteristics could be used. Preferably, the support member, guide member and alignment indicator are manufactured from a circular or oval section metal rod.

It is likely that, particularly for novice golfers, the putter head will on some practice strokes impact on the indicator. Such an impact represents an incorrect or sub-optimum vertical alignment of the putter head with respect to a golf ball, with the putter head being too low. Ideally, in a putting stroke the golf ball is hit at the start of the upstroke, and the vertical height of the indicator may be selected to assist in training the golfer to achieve this.

Repeated training sessions of swinging the putter using this apparatus will result in improvement of the golfer's putting stroke. After several such sessions the golfer will start to visualise the optimum putting stroke even in the absence of the apparatus, for example, when on the golf course. The golfer's muscles will also become conditioned to swinging the putter through an optimised putting stroke, making it easier to reproduce a consistent putting stroke. This phenomenon is often referred to by sports scientists as “muscle memory”.

In order that the present invention may be fully understood a preferred embodiment thereof will now be described in detail, though only by way of example, with reference to the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the golf putting training apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the golf putting training apparatus according to the present invention; and

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of a golfer using golf putting training apparatus according to the present invention;

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown golf putting training apparatus, generally indicated 1, comprising a planar base 10 from which extends a support 11 serving to connect a guide 12 to the base 10. The support 11 comprises a lower section 13 and an upper section 14 extending perpendicularly thereto, so as to space the guide 12 from the base 10. The guide 12 is curved slightly in a vertical plane so as to approximate the locus of a point on a putter shaft (not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) being used to perform a putt in conjunction with the golf putting training apparatus 1. The base 10 has two opposed long edges 15 and two opposed short edges 16. Extending laterally from the midpoint of one of the long edges 15 of the base 10 is an indicator 17, which serves to provide a visual indication of the alignment of the face of the putter head (not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) with respect to a golf ball (not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) positioned adjacent the indicator 17.

As can be seen in FIG. 2, the guide 12 is displaced horizontally from one long edge 15 of the base 10. A guide surface 18 is provided by the guide 12 along which the shaft of a putter (not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) may be slid. The guide surface 18 as shown in FIG. 2 is formed with a linear profile in a horizontal plane in order to assist a golfer in maintaining a linear putting path. In alternative embodiments of the present invention (not shown), the guide surface 18 may instead be formed with an arcuate profile in this horizontal plane, or may be adjustable between a linear and an arcuate profile. The upper section 14 of the support 11 is vertically above the indicator 17.

Referring now to FIG. 3, there is shown the golf putting training apparatus 1 in use by a golfer 19, for the purpose of practising and improving his putting stroke. The golfer 19 stands with his feet 20 positioned behind the base 10, one to each side of the support 11, and positions the shaft 21 of the putter 22 on the guide surface 18 of the guide 12. The golfer 19 then swings the putter 22 so that the shaft 21 runs along the guide surface 18. Alternatively, particularly as his technique improves, the golfer 19 may choose not to rely wholly upon the guide 12 to provide physical assistance, but may use it merely to give a visual indication of an optimum putting stroke.

The indicator 17 serves to provide further visual assistance to the golfer 19 in attaining an optimum putting stroke. Ideally, the face of the putter head 23 should be at right angles to the guide surface 18 and thus in alignment with the indicator 17 when passing that point, immediately before hitting a golf ball 24 positioned adjacent the indicator 17.

In order to produce an accurate putt it is necessary for the golfer 19 to hit the ball 24 at the start of the upstroke. If the golfer 19 swings the putter 22 such that the head 23 hits the alignment indicator 17, this indicates that the vertical position of the head 23 of the putter 22 with respect to the golf ball 24 is too low. Particularly where the apparatus is being used by a novice golfer 19, at times there will be some impact between the putter head 23 and the alignment indicator 17. The impact will indicate to the golfer 19 that further improvement is necessary, and the golfer 19 will automatically take corrective action to minimise the likelihood of further impact.

By repeatedly using the training apparatus 1 in the intended way, the golfer 19 will soon become physically and mentally trained consistently to reproduce a putting stroke closely corresponding to the optimum. 

1. Golf putting training apparatus for use with a putter comprising: a base having a support upstanding therefrom; a guide carried by said support and having an elongate guide surface for contact with a putter shaft; and an indicator extending laterally from the base, below the guide surface, to provide a golfer with a visual indication of alignment of the face of the putter head with respect to a golf ball; whereby in use a golfer may practise a putting stroke by swinging the putter so that the shaft runs along the guide surface, whilst using the indicator to align the face of the putter head at an appropriate angle for striking a golf ball.
 2. The golf putting training apparatus of claim 1, wherein the support comprises a lower section upstanding from the base and an upper section extending at substantially 90 degrees relative to the lower section.
 3. The golf putting training apparatus of claim 2, wherein the guide extends transversely from the upper section of the support, with the guide surface in a substantially vertical plane.
 4. The golf putting training apparatus of claim 2, wherein the indicator extends from the base in the same direction as the upper section of the support, and is in substantial vertical alignment therewith.
 5. The golf putting training apparatus of claim 2, wherein the base comprises a generally planar base plate.
 6. The golf putting training apparatus of claim 5, wherein said base plate has two opposed long edges and two opposed short edges.
 7. The golf putting training apparatus of claim 6, wherein the lower section of the support extends upwardly from a point on one of said opposed long edges of said base plate, located substantially midway between said opposed short edges.
 8. The golf putting training apparatus of claim 6, wherein the elongate guide surface extends substantially parallel relative to said opposed long edges of said base plate.
 9. The golf putting training apparatus of claim 6, wherein the indicator projects substantially horizontally from a point substantially mid-way along one of said opposed long edges of said base plate.
 10. The golf putting training apparatus of claim 1, wherein the guide has an arcuate profile in a vertical plane, approximating a locus of a point on said putter shaft.
 11. The golf putting training apparatus of claim 1, wherein the elongate guide surface has a linear profile in a horizontal plane.
 12. The golf putting training apparatus of claim 1, wherein the elongate guide surface has an arcuate profile in a horizontal plane.
 13. The golf putting training apparatus of claim 1, wherein the elongate guide surface is adjustable between a linear profile and an arcuate profile, in a horizontal plane. 